Contact: Rich Hobson, Foundation for Moral Law, 334-262-1245

MEDIA ADVISORY, Jan. 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy S. Moore and the Foundation for Moral Law sent a letter today to the Tuscaloosa Public Schools applauding Superintendent Dr. Joyce Levey and Principal Amanda H. Cassity for showing the movie, Facing the Giants at Paul W. Bryant High School (PWBHS).  The Foundation also urged school officials to ignore the absurd demand by Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS) to ban the movie from all district schools.  In a letter dated January 15, 2008, AUSCS claimed that showing Christian movies in a public school violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

The Foundation's letter, on the other hand, explained that the Establishment Clause prohibits only a "law respecting an establishment of religion" and said AUSCS's "thinly-veiled threats rely on shrill demands and general confusion about this area of the law in an attempt to cow the Tuscaloosa school district into quiet capitulation."  The letter continued:

"The simple fact is that showing a movie at PWBHS, even one with 'an explicitly Christian message,' as AUSCS breathlessly puts it, does not violate the First Amendment’s proscription that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.'  No amount of selective case excerpts or citations can change that."

The letter notes that court cases interpreting the Establishment Clause are hardly so clear-cut as AUSCS would make it out to be, and that AUSCS is trying "to leverage that confusion to achieve its radical, secularist agenda--at PWBHS and around the country."

Judge Moore said,

"Facing the Giants is a positive, uplifting, family-friendly movie that shows the value of faith in a sovereign God through the powerful story of an underdog football team that beats the odds and the 'giants' they face on the field.  If instead of a clean Christian movie PWBHS students had been shown an R-rated movie depicting violence, sex, and/or profanity, it is likely that groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State would be defending the school and crying 'censorship' if such a movie were banned.  Their hypocrisy and anti-Christian sentiment knows no bounds."

The Foundation for Moral Law's letter warned the school district that to "specifically target Christian movies for censorship, as AUSCS calls for, would demonstrate a policy of hostility toward religion."  The letter urges the Tuscaloosa schools not to give in to AUSCS's demands. 

Click here to read the entire letter from the Foundation for Moral Law.

The Foundation for Moral Law, a national non-profit legal organization, is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and is dedicated to restoring the knowledge of God in law and government through litigation relating to moral issues and religious liberty, as well as education consisting of forums for pastors, judges, and the general public.

For more information about the Foundation for Moral Law, please visit www.morallaw.org.